Dispensing cabinet



Dec. 8, 1942. l w, B, MEGLlrz 2,304,312

DISPENSING. CIABINET Filed Sept. 23, 1939 Patented Dec. 8, 1942 g UNITED STATES PATENT `OFFICE Y e 2,304,312` 'DISPENSING CABINET william n. Megiitz, Berlin, N. H., assignor, by mesne assignments, to Reconstruction Finance Corporation, Washington, D; C., a corporation cf the United States of America j l Application September 23, 1939, Serial No. 296,232

1 claim'. (ci. 24a-55.5)

This invention relates to a cabinet for dispensing strip material such as paper from a roll of the material which is inserted within the cabinet. While it can be used for paper strips of various kinds, the cabinet shown in the drawings is especially designed for dispensing pape'r toweling such as supplied in rolls. It is an object of the invention to provide a dispensing cabinet adapted to contain a roll of such paper toweling and to facilitate the grasping of the cut end of the strip so that a desired length1 of paper can be withdrawn `from `the cabinet for use. It is a further object of the invention to facilitate the severing `of the withdrawn portion from the `portion ofV the' strip which remains in the cabinetn It is a further object of the invention to provide acabinet so constructed that the paper will feed out of the cabinet easily regardless ofhow much has been previously withdrawn from the roll.

Various other advantageous features will be apparent from the following description of an embodiment of the invention, and from the drawing of which Figure 1 is a perspective view of a cabinet embodying the invention. i

Figure 2 is a transverse section of the cabinet taken on a vertical plane.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the cutter blade for severing the strip.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary sectional View on the line 4--4 of Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary portion of the view shown in Figure 2, illustrating how the cabinet is used.

As indicated in Figure 1, the cabinet may be provided with side walls IIJ and I2, a rear wall I4 and a bottom I6. A suitable cover is hinged to the cabinet, as at 22, and is preferably curved forward and downward so that it forms a top and front wall therefor. of the side walls land I2 are shaped correspondingly and the cover 20 is preferably provided with side nanges 24 which stifien the cover and which overlap marginal portions of the side Walls. As shown, the cover 20 doesnot extend all of the way down to the forward edge of the bottom I6 but is spaced a substantial distance above such edge, thus leaving an opening in the front of the box. This opening is normally closed by a cutter blade 32, a portion of which at least is movable inward to facilitate grasping the cut end of the paper strip contained in the cabinet as hereinafter described. In the embodi- The forward portions entire blade `32 is swingable inward, the blade being pivoted at itsupper corners,` as at 34, to the sidewalls I0 and I2 ofthe cabinet. The blade is rockable about its upper edge as an axis and normally hangs in a vertical plane substantially flush with the free forward edge 36 of the bottom I6, .thus` serving asa portion of the' front wall oi the cabinet. A pair of suitable stop elements or lugs 38 project from the sidewalls in front of the blade 32 so as to prevent rocking `movement of such blade forwarder outward from its vertical position. Theblade 32 can bevsuspended in such a manner as to hang vertically by its own weight or with the help of an addi* tional weight suitably arranged with respect to its rocking axis. As shown, a light spring 40 is provided to bear against the rear face `of the blade so as to press it against the` stop lugs 38 vand to .oppose resiliently inward swinging movement of the blade. A spring 40 may be provided, if desired, at each end of the blade.

A guiding member 42 is mounted within the cabinet and includes a flat lower portion 44 which is spaced slightly above the forward portion of the substantially horizontal bottom I6, as indicated in Figures 2 and 5, so as to form a narrow substantially horizontal guiding passage for the strip of paper as it leaves the roll and issues from the container. The lower portion 44 of the guide member is preferably inclined slightly with reference to the substantially horizontal bottom so that the guiding passage progressively narrows toward its forward orifice. 'Ihe guide member 42 may be conveniently supported by a pair of tabs 46 which are secured by any suitable means to the side walls of the cabinet, leaving the narrow guiding passage unobstructed. The upper portion of the guide member is bent back from the lower portion, as at 48, thus forming a flared oriiice at the rear of the guide passage to facilitate threading the paper strip into the passage. As shown in Figure 2, the forward edge 50 of the guide plate 44 is offset rearwardly from the forward edge 36 of the bottom I6 and is slightly below and to the rear of the bottom edge of the cutter blade 32 when the latter is in its normal vertical position. The forward portions of the bottom I6 and the guide member 44 are recessed, as at 54, so as to expose a portion of the cut end of the paper strip which is usually flush with the forward edges of the bottom I6 and the v guide plate 44. Thus the thumb and fore nger of the user may conveniently grasp such exposed portion of the strip by pushing the cutter blade 32 ment of the invention shownin the drawing, the so as to swing it back as indicated in Figure 5.

Instead of having the whole cutter blade arranged to swing inward, the end portions may be fixed and the central portion adjacent to the recesses 54 may be mounted so as to swing inward in the cut end portion of the'"paper bearing against the bottom I6 and the'guidenieiiberdll in several places, as indicated in Figure 2, this resulting in a sufcient frictional drag to vprevent retraction of the paper from the recess 54.

To facilitate severing a withdrawn portion y'of the-istrip,l the lower edge of the' cutterk blade -32 lis `-`for`med with two groups Aof"ser`rations lill, 'these groups'v being oneither side of a central straight 'eldgef'portior Si." andA extending to the 'ends 'of the bladey The'i-serr'ationsoieach group arepreferably inclined toward the 'adjacentend of' the `blade 'so thaty theserrations vwillrnore 'positively catch onthepaper strip as vtlfie'withdrawn portion is'pullediupwardto sever it from the portion 'remaiin'g'in thecabinet. Thestright edge 'p0rtion 62 is of sufficientv` length to isp'an 'the recess Elifand is'f'dire'ctly `opposite or above such recess,

as'best'appea-rs' 'in' Fig; 1,Thusthe rigers of the bpeia'tor will '"not fenc'ounter" serrations when the blade is swung' back tdperinit gripping ofthe "ut lendfintherecess54.

The side walls lil 'and I2 of 'the' cabinetY are providedl with opposed vertical 'channels 'GS" and $8 `which yare' of sufficient width'tdreceive `the ends of the arbor which extends through the paper roll. The roll is intended to rest upon the bottom of the cabinet so that the paper feeds tangentially therefrom directly into the guide passage through which it issues from the cabinet. As the roll decreases in size with the removal of paper therefrom, the ends of the arbor descend inthe grooves 66 and 63. The grooves, however, prevent the roll from being pulled into a diagona1 position 'Within the cabinet and thus Aensure proper feeding ofwthe strip through the guide passage.

It is evident that various modications and changes may be made in they embodiment of the invention illustrated and described without departing from vther spirit or scope thereof as set forth in the following claim.

I claim:

In a cabinet of the character described for dispensing paper from .a roll rotatably mounted therein; saidcabinet having front and rear walls, end'walls and abottom; a cutter blade' extending substantially'entirely across the' front of said cabinet and having a lower cutting edgefdening with the bottomnf Ysaid box a slot through which 'th'e'fpaperisdispensedg v.said blade being pivotally mounted at the upper part ,thereof-"to swing inwardly of the cabinet to, provide-grasping-access 'to s'aid paper; stop means v"to prevent said blade from swinging'outwardly of the cabinet, andf'a `recess in the'bottomvof'said fcabinet toprovide a'ngergrip on said paper, said lower edgefof t'lie'cut'ter blade 'having' a-straight edge portion -in'substantial 4registrywith said recess which Istraight edge portion has a length at least substantially' equal to theiwidth of'fsaid recess,1the remaining portion'cfsaid lower edge `being serrated.

'WILLIAM B VMEGLITZ. 

